Wednesday, September 24, 2008

As a Theatre Ministries major, I am required to write 2 devotionals per semester for the theatre department's weekly publication, "The Cue". Below is what I wrote for last Friday's devotional.

How is your devotional life going? Is reading the Bible an integral part of your day, or is it merely once-in-a-while, only occurring when you happen to have extra time?

Psalm 119 has always been an encouraging and challenging chapter for me. It gives us many reasons to study God's Word: "How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your Word." (verse 9) "Righteous are You, O LORD, and Your Laws are right. The Statutes You have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy." (verses 137-138) I think we would all agree that reading and studying the Bible is important. We all know that it's a good thing to do, and that it's something we should make time for.

But how many of us can say with the Psalmist: "I delight in Your Commands because I love them." (verse 47)? Can we truly declare, "The Law from Your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold" (verse 72)? Can we honestly exclaim, "Oh, how I love Your Law! I meditate on it all day long!" (verse 97)?

If we are feeling a lack of motivation to study the Bible, we can pray the words of this Psalm: "Turn my heart towards Your Statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to Your Word." (verses 37-38) "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your Law." (verse 18)

As a busy college student, there are many demands made for our time. Classes, homework, rehearsals, and friends occupy the day, and often we get way too little sleep at night. However, we must not neglect reading, studying, and memorizing the Word of God. It gives us encouragement, motivation, and the right attitude we need to face each day.

If you don't already, purpose to set aside a specific time each day to really study the Bible. It may mean getting up a little earlier to have that quiet time in the morning, or setting aside a break between classes to have devotions, or staying up just a little later or not staying out as late with friends so that you can read and meditate on God's Word before bed.

This time of our lives can be one of the richest for learning and growing in our spiritual life. Let us pray that we may be able to say: "I delight in Your decrees; I will not neglect Your Word." (verse 16)

2 comments:

Good reminder! Even though I'm not a college student I do struggle with "I'll do Bible Study when I get my homework done and I have time." But of course your homework never is done! There is always something more! So I needed the reminder to take (or make) time to study the inspired word of our Lord. Maybe I'll start with 15 minutes a day? Not that I read your blog or anything...~Harmony~